S-Box Storage Unit

ABSTRACT

A household item ( 12 ), such as a microwave oven, can be moved from a lowered storage position to a raised usable position. In the storage position the moving surface lid ( 14 ) is flat with the surrounding work surface ( 10 ) having been lowered by a manual force and held in place by a suitable catch or latching mechanism. The household item can be raised by pushing the housing slightly downwards, thus releasing the housing from its anchored position. A counterweight ( 15 ) greater than the weight of the household item is suspended by way of a wire and pulley system ( 1   a   , 1   b   , 1   c ) that in turn powers the platform and displaces the lid, on which the household item is located, upwardly.

The present invention relates to an indoor or outdoor storage unit and amethod of operating such a storage unit.

Kitchens, bathrooms and offices within domestic and commercialproperties are generally restricted by the space they can occupy due toconstruction design. Thereafter in the modern world we have an everincreasing amount of new products coming onto the market that arespecifically designed for use within those environments. Consequently,home owners and commercial property users alike have to make a choicebetween which products or items of equipment they have out on displayand ready for use, as opposed to concealing them within storage cupboardor units.

It is the objective of the present invention to attempt to overcome atleast one of the above and or other disadvantages.

The present invention is defined in the claims.

The present invention can be carried into practice in various ways butthe primary embodiment will now be described by way of example and withreference to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a flat work surface (10), a storedstorage unit (12) with its counterweight (15) and top section (14) in alowered position located within an external housing (11), and FIG. 2 isa similar view of a re-positioned top section (14) and a raised storageunit (12);

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the storage unit (12) showing thepulley system counter weight (15) and relative counterweight connectionpoints (1 a), (1 b), and (1 c);

FIG. 4 a is a schematic view of the front elevation of the unit with thestorage unit (12) in its concealed position, showing the lifting pulleys(21), wire connections (50) counterweight (15), anchor points (18 a),(18 b), (19 a), (19 b) and latching mechanism (17).

FIG. 4 b is a schematic view of the front elevation of the unit with thestorage unit (12) in its elevated position, showing the lifting pulleys(21), wire connections (50) counterweight location (15), anchor points(18), (18 b), (19 a), (19 b) and latching mechanism (17).

FIG. 5 a is a schematic drawing of the rear of the storage unit (12) ina raised position, showing the housing guides (20) and their location inrelation to the storage unit and unit housing (11).

FIG. 5 b is a schematic drawing of the rear of the storage unit (12) ina lowered position, showing the housing guides (20) and their locationin relation to the storage unit and unit housing (11).

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a kitchen work surface within a home (26)showing the location of various storage units (12).

The storage units (12) can be moved between the raised positions shownin FIGS. 2, 4 b and 5 a to a storage position in which they are flushwith the adjacent surface (10). That surface could comprise any suitablework surface found within kitchens, bathrooms or offices, for instance.The lids (14) may have an upper surface corresponding with the adjacentsurface (10), for instance the lid (14) may have a polished metalsurface on it or it may have the same surface as its surrounding surface(10). In the storage position, the storage unit will be barelydiscernible if covered in the same surface as the surrounding surface.

Raising and lowering the storage unit is achieved by a plurality ofpairs of links 18 a, 18 b and 19 a and 19 b. These links havepredetermined weights placed upon them, the balance of which is infavour of the lowering counterweight thus causing the storage unit toraise vertically when in a free state, and be manually forced downwardsto place it in its stored state.

A wire (50) has one end pivotally connected to the link (18 a) and via apulley the opposite end pivotally connected to (18 b), likewise a secondwire (50) has one end pivotally connected to the link (19 a) and via apulley the opposite end pivotally connected to (19 b).

In its retracted position of the stroke shown in FIG. 1 the storage unitis raised and held in the raised position due to the counterweightexerting more force upwardly than the storage unit and its contents areexerting downwardly. The counterweight is changing its force directionby way of one or two pulley systems.

So as to place the unit back in its storage position, manual pressure isapplied to the lid (14) of the storage unit causing the unit to lowerand the counterbalance to raise. The imbalance between the two opposingloads is kept to a minimum so as to achieve minimal manual pressure tobe applied to lower the storage unit.

The counterweight (15) has the option to be manually altered byincreasing or reducing its weight, thus the load held within the storageunit (12) can be accommodated whilst maintaining the relevant force tolift the storage unit and its contents.

Once the storage unit is in its lowered position it engages into a latchmechanism that holds it in its closed or stored state.

The latching mechanism (17) can be raised or lowered withinpredetermined parameters to accommodate the differing thicknesses ofworktop (10), thus the stop and hold point of the top of the storagehousing (14) can be set level with surrounding worktop or work surface(10).

Guides are provided to ensure aligned movement of the platform whenbeing raised or lowered or both.

A work surface is converted to have a storage unit by cutting out orremoving the correct sized piece of work surface to accept the lid ofthe system through the work surface at the required location. Then theinstaller will need to clear the area below the work surface to predetermined dimensions so as to allow the complete system to be housedunder the work surface, and be fixed to the underneath side of the worksurface and at other points.

The top of the housing (14) can be adjusted to stop short of theadjacent work surface (10) to allow the depth of the work surface to beaccommodated within the overall design, thus after installation the lidof the storage unit will be flush with the adjacent work surface.

In the event that there should be a mechanical failure to the system,means are provided for accessing the contents of the storage unit andmechanical components by way of a release panel in the main housing ofthe unit located under the work surface.

The closed and open storage unit may be of various sizes and may providestorage and transit for many varieties of products and equipment suchas:

Microwave Oven Spice Rack Kitchen Utensil Rack Knife Rack Coffee MakerKey Holder/Organiser Remote Control Holder Kitchen Cutlery Mug RackBread Bin Wine Rack LCD Television Cold Storage Bread Maker JuicerLiquidizer Condiment Rack Kettle Kitchen Waste MP3 Equipment SoundSystems Food Kitchen Paperwork Junk Zone Storage Speakers Games ConsolesSecure Storage Kitchen Roll/Wipes Hairdryer Curling Tongs CosmeticsPerfumes Cleaning Products Toiletries Shaving Equipment Towels SoapsPersonal Grooming Clothes Night Clothes Equipment Personal HygieneProducts Bathroom Waste Personal Possessions Computer Laptop LCD DisplayOffice Waste Paperwork Filing Other Computer Equipment Personal EffectsWork Equipment

The storage units may have light, power, water and computer connectionssupplied to and within them

The plan area of the base of each storage unit may be up to 2 m inlength and the surface area of the lid may be up to 2 m in length. Asingle platform or platform and base may be able to raise and lower avariety of storage units of varying weights having the variety of sizesin height or cross-section or both.

The weight of the counter weight may have a lifting capacity of up to100 Kilograms for instance.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filedconcurrently with or previous to this specification in connection withthis application and which are open to public inspection with thisspecification, and the contents of all such papers and documents areincorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including anyaccompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps ofany method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination,except combinations where at least some of such features and/or stepsare mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanyingclaims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative featuresserving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly statedotherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each featuredisclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent orsimilar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoingembodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novelcombination, of the features disclosed in the specification (includingany accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any noel one, orany novel combination, of the steps of any method or process sodisclosed.

1. An in-door or out-door storage unit movable between a raised positionand a storage position in which, in the storage position, the storageunit may be located at least partly within another existing housing. 2.A storage unit as claimed in claim 1 in which in the raised position,the storage unit is partly or wholly out of the existing housing.
 3. Astorage unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage unit includes afloor and the housing includes a work surface, further wherein the floorof the storage unit, when the storage unit is in the raised position, isflush with an adjacent portion of the work surface.
 4. A storage unit asclaimed in claim 3, in which the storage unit includes a top and in thestorage position the top is flush with an adjacent portion of the worksurface.
 5. A storage unit as claimed in claim 1, in which the storageunit includes a top and the top, in the storage position at least,comprises a flat surface.
 6. A storage unit as claimed in claim 5 inwhich the top of the storage unit is movable between a lowered positionin which it comprises a flat horizontal surface to a raised position inwhich it comprises a flat horizontal surface.
 7. A storage unit asclaimed in claim 1, further including a housing located within anotherhousing within which the storage unit is at least partly located when inthe storage position.
 8. A storage unit as claimed in claim 7, whereinthe storage unit includes a top surface and the housing includes a worksurface, further wherein the top surface is terminated adjacent to thework surface.
 9. A storage unit as claimed in claim 1, in which thehousing includes a base.
 10. A storage unit as claimed in claim 1,including driving means arranged to move the storage unit from thestorage position to the raised position.
 11. A storage unit as claimedin claim 10, in which the driving means includes a counterweight or amotor system that is assisted by a counterweight.
 12. A storage unit asclaimed in claim 10, including a linkage arrangement connected to thedriving means and arranged to raise the storage unit from the storageposition to the raised position when the driving means are activated.13. A storage unit as claimed in claim 10, including a platformsupporting the storage unit with the driving means being arranged tomove the platform upwardly thereby moving the storage unit from thestorage position to the raised position.
 14. A storage unit as claimedin claim 1, in which, in the storage position, the top of the storageunit, in plan view, is side-by-side with the adjacent housing around thecomplete extent of the housing.
 15. A storage unit as claimed in claim13, in which the drive means includes a lifting mechanism having atleast one column extending from a top region of the storage unit to abottom region.
 16. A storage unit as claimed in claim 15 in which thecolumn of the lifting mechanism is connected to the platform.
 17. Astorage unit as claimed in claim 1, in which at least one side of thestorage unit is substantially open or accessible.
 18. A storage unit asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the storage unit is an enclosed storageunit.
 19. A storage unit as claimed in claim 1, comprising any one ormore of an LCD TV, laptop, microwave, spice rack, utensil rack, kettle,knife block or rack, bread machine, fruit, cookies, paperwork,hairdryer, cosmetics, perfume, soaps etc. etc.
 20. A storage unit asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the storage unit includes an upper surfaceand the housing includes a work surface, further wherein the uppersurface is of the same appearance as that of an adjacent surface portionof the work surface.
 21. A storage unit as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe storage unit includes a top surface with marble or other suitablework surface.
 22. (canceled)
 23. A method of operating an indoor storageunit comprising moving the storage unit from a raised position, to astorage position in which the storage unit is located at least partlywithin another existing housing.
 24. A method as claimed in claim 23comprising causing at least part of a top surface of the storage unit tomove to an inclined or vertical position when the structure is not inthe storage position.
 25. A method as claimed in claim 23, comprisingmoving the storage unit to a position below the storage position beforebacking the storage unit up to the storage position.
 26. (canceled)